GBENGA OLONINIRAN writes about the fate of Nigerians who in the bid to escape the biting economic conditions, fall victim to tragedies that strike at palliative distribution centres
As the economic hardship continues to linger in the country, many Nigerians who have been pushed to the wall by the skyrocketing prices of commodities, have been left with no option but to throng the palliative distribution centres put in place by government officials or other stakeholders.
There have been protests in some states against the current hardship, rising inflation and high cost of living following the removal of fuel subsidy and floating of the naira by the President Bola Tinubu-led administration.
As the vulnerable seek succour in the collection of palliatives, racing to the venues to find what to eat either at subsidised rates or at no cost, some of them, unfortunately, meet what will “eat them.”
Two students dead, 22 hospitalised
Last Friday, two female students of Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Grace Danladi, and Rose Micheal, died following a stampede that occurred at the university’s convocation square during a palliative sharing programme.
Governor Abdullahi Sule had ordered the distribution of two 7.5kg bags of rice and N5,000 to each student of the university in Keffi, the state capital.
The National President of the Nasarawa State Students Association, Yunusa Baduku, while speaking with our correspondent on Monday, said one of the students had been laid to rest while the corpse of the other student was still in the mortuary.
Yunusa said, “One of them has been put to rest at her village. The other body is still in the mortuary and arrangements are ongoing for her burial. We have almost 22 other students still receiving treatment at the Federal Medical Centre, Keffi. One of them was taken to Abuja for an X-ray and it was successful. She has returned and is under medication.”
The National Mobilisation Officer of the Education Rights Campaign, Adaramoye Michael, condemned the deaths of the students.
In an interview with our correspondent, Adaramoye said the death of the students was a national tragedy and showed the “deep disastrous state of the economic crisis the ruling class has plunged the nation into.”
He said, “It is more tragic and worrisome that it occurred in an academic environment which ought to be a sane abode for students. We hold the state government and the university authorities responsible for this tragic loss.”
Gov dismisses negligence
The governor of the state, Sule, while speaking in an interview on Channels Television on Sunday night, dismissed claims that the government was responsible for the tragedy that struck at the university. The governor said the palliative sharing had gone seamless in eight other institutions and blamed impatience for what happened at the varsity which he said was the ninth collection centre.
Sule said, “In Nasarawa, we have approximately eight institutions where we are carrying out distribution of palliatives. We started with the federal university in Lafia where we had 4,000 students who received two bags and N5,000 each, we didn’t have any (negative) incident. We moved to the state polytechnic in Lafia where another 2,500 students received and we didn’t have any problem whatsoever. Unfortunately, we had this incident at the state university and from what you saw it’s very unfortunate it happened, but it has nothing to do with any planning.
He added, “We are very sad that two students died. You saw exactly the kind of stampede that was there. Unfortunately for us, two students died. Very sad, but we are following up with the families.”
Seven die in Lagos stampede
Last month, about seven persons reportedly lost their lives in a stampede at the Nigeria Customs Service office in Yaba, Lagos, during the sale of 25kg bags of rice to Lagos residents.
Our correspondent learnt that people were trampled to death as a mass of people thronged the venue of the sale of the bags of confiscated rice at the Yaba office of the service on the fateful day.
The PUNCH reports that a member of the All Progressives Congress, Comfort Adebanjo, and six others lost their lives in the bid to purchase the rice which sold for N10,000 at the Yaba Customs office.
The coordinator of FKL Ward E1, Lagos State of the APC, Oluwafemi Fadahunsi, and Secretary, Adebari Adewale, confirmed that Adebanjo was one of the seven persons who died during the stampede.
Customs blames impatience
The Nigeria Customs Service described the Lagos incident as unfortunate but noted the agency was not responsible for the deaths.
Speaking with our correspondent in an interview, the spokesperson for Customs, Abdullahi Maiwada, blamed the development on impatience on the part of the people who came for the event.
He said, “At a point, they decided to be impatient. When we saw the crowd, we even suspended the collection of forms and said, ‘Let’s give them for free’. We did that, we exhausted everything. After exhausting everything and we told them everything had finished, and that they could go, that we didn’t have any more, they persisted. Some of them broke the fence of that place. We had to put some barricades to cover the area. Some of them went and entered the container. At one point, we used our ambulance, and took them to hospital.”
He added, “I don’t really have the statistics of the lives we have lost, but we made every effort for everyone to be orderly and to rescue them. We took them to the hospital. What do you want us to do?”
“It is very unfortunate; it is something that we wished did not happen and we are very pathetic about it. We are with them in this trying situation,” he told the victims’ families.
Meanwhile, the Customs in late February announced the suspension of the sale of foodstuffs following the stampede.
Four trampled in Bauchi
No fewer than four people were reportedly trampled to death on Sunday during an attempt to participate in an almsgiving exercise at Shafa Holdings Company Plc on Jos Road in Bauchi, Bauchi State.
It was gathered that the incident happened at about 10.20am when the company was holding its annual Zakat exercise, otherwise known as almsgiving, to help the less privileged in the state.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Ahmed Wakili, who spoke with one of our correspondents via a telephone conversation, disclosed that five people became unconscious as a result of the stampede, noting that four were confirmed dead by the doctor on duty at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospital Bauchi.
He said, “The command received a distress call at about 10.20am from Abubakar Tafewa Balewa Teaching Hospital Bauchi, indicating that five people were brought to the hospital unconscious due to the stampede, a call we received from a Good Samaritan. Upon receiving the call, the Commissioner of Police, Musa Mohammed, directed the area commander to the scene of the crime.
“We have cordoned off the place and evacuated those injured to the hospital. In the process, five people were in the hospital, but four were confirmed dead by medical doctors. The exercise is a Zakat exercise that was given to the less privileged by Shafa Holding Company along Jos Road; that is the major cause of the stampede.”
Residents throng Lagos centres
In Lagos, the state government on Sunday March 17, 2024, commenced “Ounje Eko”, that is, food markets where sales of food items were at discounted prices in the five divisions of the state.
The state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, announced that a 5kg bag of rice would sell for N5,325 while 1kg would cost N1,065; a 5kg bag of beans would sell for N6,225 while 1kg would be sold for N1,245. Also, 5kg of garri would be sold for N3,975 while 1kg would be sold for N795.
Other food items include 2 kg of tomatoes for N1,800; 1kg of tatashe for N1,275; 1kg of atarodo for N1,875; 1kg of onions for N450; one loaf of bread for N750; two loaves of bread for N1,500; and one crate of eggs for N2,700.
Some of the discounted markets are, Agege LGA: Dairy Farm Secondary School, Orile-Agege LCDA: Saka Tinubu Memorial School, Orile Agege, Ajeromi-Ifelodun: AFRICAN Primary School (close to the Secretariat), Ikorodu LGA: Ikorodu Grammar School, Igbogbo/Bayeku LCDA: Zumuratu Islamiya Grammar School, Igbogbo, Ijede LCDA: Luwasa Junior High School, Ijede. Kosofe LGA: St. Emmanuel Primary School, Ogudu and Ikosi Isheri LCDA: Ikosi High School, Ketu.
Some residents who went for the sales expressed excitement and no stampede incident has been recorded yet.
Falana demands compensation
Human rights activist Femi Falana blamed “official negligence” on the part of the Nasarawa State University for the avoidable deaths of the two students during palliative sharing.
In a statement on Sunday, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria called for an investigation into the circumstances that led to the deaths of the students and demanded compensation for the families of the victims.
Falana said, “It is unfortunate that the authorities of the university failed to draw any lesson from the recent stampede which claimed the lives of seven persons during the distribution of 25kg bags of rice in Lagos by the Nigeria Customs Service. No doubt, the tragedy would have been averted if the university management had distributed the 7kg bags of rice to the students through their departments.
“Indeed, there was no justification to have assembled thousands of students without a standby ambulance. As if that was not enough, the university health centre was not equipped to attend to the injured students. Hence, they were rushed to the Federal Medical Centre in Keffi where two female students were certified dead.
He added that the “state government and the university management are required by law to compensate the bereaved families of the two students.”
Subsidise food prices – Seedog
The National Publicity Secretary of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, Gerald Kathy, has sought the subsiding of food items rather than the distribution of palliatives.
In an interview with The PUNCH on Monday, Kathy wondered why palliative distribution could not be successful.
Kathy said, “If you see elections, you see the way INEC distributes materials to polling units, you see the way they control the crowd. But the leadership we have over the years has shown selfish interest, aggrandisement, greed and impatience and that is what is showing among the generality of Nigerians.
“When it comes to palliative collection, there is no sincerity on the side of the government. A few weeks ago, we saw a local government chairman in Lagos, instead of giving out palliatives, he subsidised the food and there was no issue in crowd control.”
He added, “If the government is sincere in this approach, the best they can do is to subsidise food if they cannot go back to (solve the problem created by) the fuel subsidy. That is the way of touching lives. If you give me food today, and the food finishes, what will happen to me tomorrow?
“Palliative giving is giving room to more corruption, aggrandisement and greed because even the people – how do you know the poor, do we have the data, what criteria do you use? Some politicians will hijack the palliatives and be giving them to party members or followers.”